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Many of us are susceptible to fear in the face of uncertainty, but whatever may happen there is still room for a bit of optimism for all of us. Here are 7 ways to overcome coronavirus stress and ease your anxiety.

When we’re hand washing, stockpiling and practicing social distancing like anything, it’s also important for us to remember our mental health matters. Let’s not put ourselves in the panic mode and make it a mental pandemic.

Here are few strategies from experts which are practical solutions to remain positive and accept any situation. These practical tips will help you to relax, take positive actions and put things in perspective.

Follow these 7 ways to overcome your coronavirus stress and ease anxiety:

7: Practise Social Distancing but Be Connected Virtually:

Social distancing and nationwide lockdown may require us to stay in our homes, but that doesn’t mean we have to lead an isolated lonely life. It’s important now to stay in communication with family, friends, neighbors and anyone who matters to you.

Use the phone, text, social media, email, video chats— all means possible to stay connected with everyone and spread positive vibes and factual news only. When you spread positivity and give hope to others, your mind too gets mental support to carry on with hope. This will ease your stress and anxiety.

6. See the Pandemic in Perspective:

A similar blog on this topic suggests an important component of putting the pandemic in perspective is balancing what we should and should not do.

Few things are out of control, but it’s in our control how we react. We can’t at this present moment get rid of the crisis. But we can observe government orders, we can donate to funds which are fighting this disease, we can share the load with our family members and be good to them at this crisis. At least we can smile so that others in the family don’t lose hope.

5. Practise Self-Compassion and Self-Care:

Fear is natural. So, don’t feel guilty when you are afraid. Accept your fear and try to trace the source of your anxiety. Write down your fears on a piece of paper – and then try to write down what you can do or how you can cope with it. This will take care of your present stress and anxiety.

Slow down, have a pause and engage in healthy practices and try to sustain regular routines that bring comfort and keeps you good emotionally. Conversation with positive people, exercises, yoga, meditation, and religious and spiritual practices are good starting points.

Try considering the healing impacts of making art, reading uplifting books, listening to happy songs, journaling and being useful to others.

4. Keep away from False Rumours:

At this present moment, there is a lot of misinformation, negative content in social media and digital media. Don’t focus on this negativity. It’s essential in this present moment to consume facts only, news which is true. This will prevent you from succumbing to coronavirus related anxiety.

For regular authentic updates around the globe on coronavirus, you may visit the WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub at whatsapp.com/coronavirus, and click on the WHO link on the homepage to open up a chat with the WHO Health Alert if you have WhatsApp installed.

The WHO Health Alert will provide official information on topics such as how to protect yourself from infection, travel advice, and debunking Coronavirus myths.

For factual information about the present situation in India and important helpline numbers, you may visit this Government of India website.

3. When you feel overwhelmed, Move the Finish Line:

A recent blog from the Fast Company suggests: “Being overwhelmed is the consequence of trying to juggle too many mental operations at once, which makes it impossible to design or execute a good action plan. By reducing the set of operations, you relieve the load placed upon your frontal cortex (the region of your brain responsible for planning and action) and reduce the corresponding sense of panic.”

When anxiety and stress take over, focus on one thing you know you can accomplish in 10, or even 5, minutes rather than dwelling on what you need to accomplish over the entire day. Keep yourself busy by focusing on just cooking the meal for the present, having a cup of tea for the next five minutes and focusing on that, concentrating on a part on your work from home assignments for the next 15 min and so on. This will help you put off your stress.

2. Act when you feel powerless:

When we perceive we don’t have control over anything we feel helpless. When you panic, which is your default when you feel a loss of control in each moment, it impedes dopamine release, which leads to an even greater sense of powerlessness.

To stimulate the dopamine release and regain your sense of possibility, you have to take actions as simple as listening to your favorite song, making a cup of coffee, texting a friend, helping and chatting with your partner in the kitchen, etc. Then look for the next positive action step. These steps will help you overcome stress and ease your anxiety.

By doing this, you can “shift your mindset from one of powerlessness to one of resolve.”

1. When you feel alone, help someone:

From a neurological perspective helping someone in need, whether by phone, text or even donating a little fund to those who need, infuses positive vibes in your mind. Giving gives you a sense of happiness and gratitude, and it stops the anger and fear.

Helping others changes the chemical composition of our neurons. Those chemicals positively change our brain’s assessment of self and our place in the world. It makes us reassured that we can control things that we perceived not in our control minutes ago.

If you’re following the advice of public health officials and staying home to slow the spread of coronavirus, these are the 7 ways to overcome coronavirus stress and ease your anxiety and take care of the mental health wellbeing.